Tag Archives: cheese

Yes, I Want Quesadillas

by

Tonight’s dinner inspiration came from Katie at Yes, I Want Cake.  Layered quesadillas.

YIWC also inspires me to poke holes in all our condoms but Adam says we should have jobs before we have our own adorable baby.  I guess I’ll stick with copying dinner.  Katie’s quesadillas were triple deckers but I went with two layers with extra cheese.

Here’s the breakdown of our ‘dillas –

Plus homemade guacamole.

We made the guac with mashed avocado, mayan onion, tomato, and salt and pepper; it was delicious.  In fact the whole meal was great.

Thanks for the idea, Katie!

Earlier this afternoon, the husband made me a Coke float.

So good.  The adorable glass is from the bar I worked at back home, complete with a drink recipe.

And now I’m actually heading out for another drink, this time coffee.  My friend Katie (the one from last night, not the dinner inspiration with the adorable baby) is moving soon so I’m trying to see her as much as possible.  We are meeting at the Spot before she leaves for a trip tomorrow.

Grog Not Groggy

by

After my run this morning I joined my parents for an hour and a half bike ride.  I burnt the crap out of my forearms yesterday so I ended up biking in 85* weather in this –

Worth it.  We rode all around the path and over some gorgeous bridges.  I so wish I’d had my camera but I couldn’t figure out a place to put it.

We came home for a refreshing breakfast.

0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt with a strawberry honey straw, blueberries, peach, and Great Harvest granola.

I have maybe a half serving of granola left and my heart is breaking.

Getting lunch was not my strong suit today and I will admit that I was a little cranky this afternoon.  We did do some fun things though, like explore a neat farmer’s market.

I grabbed an iced coffee from a stand at the market.

But traded iced in for hot as soon as I saw this –

Grog style coffee?!  With a little skim milk.

I swear it did taste like buttered rum!

We also traveled to the mecca.

I bought sushi (spicy and regular brown rice California rolls) for lunch but I only ate three pieces.

Yucky City, way too much (mushy) rice.  If I had been closer to the store I would have returned it but I was eating on the car ride home.

I split these Sunkist gems with my dad for dessert.

Yum City.

My grumbling tummy was very happy when dinner was served.

Side salad with peas, radishes, spicy ranch, and dill cheese curds.

Corn on the cob so tasty it blew the corn I bought in Buffalo out of the water.

And quesadilla with sautéed onions and peppers, turkey sausage, shredded chicken, and colby and sharp cheddar cheese.

With a small turtle blizzard for dessert.

I’ve been pretty well fed this vacation.  Nonetheless, I can’t wait to go home to my husband tomorrow and hear about his first week back at school!

My Aching Ischium

by

Ow!

I wish I could blog more about today but it’s after midnight and I am just so tired!  Time to keep things cursory.

I started my morning with a version of my new favorite breakfast.

Great Harvest granola (essential!) with berries, 0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt, and a blue raspberry honey stick.

Delicious, and totally fun looking.

Then my parents and I headed out for a 3 hour bike ride.  Hence the aching sit-bones!  My plan was to run but my leg is sore (from accelerating of all things) and I think I ended up getting a better workout anyways.

After our three hour ride a big lunch was key.

It doesn’t look like much but that’s a vegetarian rice bowl from the burrito place down the street.  Rice, black beans, creamy hot sauce, tomatoes, corn salsa, guacamole, lettuce, cheese and pineapple.

It was a totally ridiculously delicious combination of flavors.

I also had this light Arnold Palmer.

We ran some fun errands this afternoon including a little farmers’ market,

and then headed to dinner at Beppo Uno.

I started with a side Cesar salad,

and ordered the baked zitti for dinner.

I can’t believe my nacho-obsessed self can even say this but it was a little too cheesy for me!

I only took a few bites but gulped down my shockingly good garlic bread,

and a slice of my mom’s shrimp and pesto pizza.

I guess I’m carbo-loading for tomorrow’s bike ride?!

I’m blogging so late because my parents and I went to see a 9:20 showing of “Bad Teacher.”  <– Cameron Diaz meh, Jason Segel hubba hubba!

Off The Road

by

I made it!  I was a little nervous about driving 7 hours by myself but it ended up being ok.  Of course I’d rather drive with Adam, but it’s nice to know that I can do it by myself.  Caffeine helped.  A sugar-free Red Bull was brought from home.

I also brought lunch so I wouldn’t have to stop.  Cheese and jam sandwich.

That’s 2 slices of Dakota topped with 2 oz of 50% reduced fat white cheddar and Crofters Concord Grape Spread.

And a baggie of carrots.

I did stop once to pee and I grabbed a half sweet coffee for the 2nd half of the trip.

And then I was there!  My dad took me to rent a bike as soon as I arrived (there’s a path near my grandparents’ house that we’re going to use this weekend) and we went out for a short ride.

Soon enough it was time for dinner.

Baked asparagus,

breaded baked chicken,

a rice mixture,

caprese salad,

and fruit on the side.

After dinner I took my grandpa to a local baseball game and then the whole family ended up meeting for ice cream.

That’s a small twist with marshmallow.

And now it’s bed time.

Pride of Lions

by

I am so proud of my husband.  He begins his 3rd year of medical school tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll kick as much ass at clinical as he did his first two years of school!  The soon-to-be-3rd-years had a celebratory ceremony today and Adam was in charge of the opening/closing remarks.  <– this is why his parents are in town

Before the festivities began, I took my in-laws out to brunch.

I had a bogo coupon for Moe’s so that’s where we went.  What?  Mexican food can be brunch.

I got another rice bowl.

Rice, black beans, tofu, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, lettuce, cilantro, cheese, and corn salsa.

And chips with a side of queso.

I ate about 2/3 of everything and it was delicious.  I love how healthy Moe’s is, but I will admit that it’s got me hankering for some cheesy, crunchy, greasy, authentic Mexican food.

Adam did a great job at the ceremony, sometimes I can’t believe that the handsome, funny, well-spoken medical student belongs to me!

Afterwards we cheers’d at Pearl Street Brewery.

I was drinking a Blue Eyed Blueberry Blonde.

My beer was nice and refreshing, with just a few hints of fruit.  I love that Pearl Street microbrews on site.  Whenever a beer is described as blonde I know I’m bound to like it; I also enjoy dark beers (Guinness, Turbo Dog…) but I hate IPAs.

Along with my beer I ordered a turkey reuben.

Not on the menu, but they’ll sub turkey for corned beef if you ask nicely.

It was delicious but so filling that I could only handle half.  I left my chips only completely though; who eats chips when their husband’s meal comes with wedge fries?!

Yum!  My favorite fries are the big, squishy ones.

Once we got my in-laws on the road we had to run a few errands.  I’m actually going on another trip in just a few days so we had to get the husband stocked with a few groceries.  I grabbed a white chocolate toffee cookie while we were at the store.

I’m going to get off the computer now so that I can spend Adam’s last free night (ever!) hanging out, but know that I will be enjoying a big bowl of peanut brittle ice cream later this evening!

Gourmet On The Go

by

We’re back in Buffalo!  We made it home without losing any limbs or luggage and managed to eat only healthy, delicious meals; I call that a winner travel day!

To start the morning my aunt took me to Atwaters, a local bakery her neighbor owns, to buy a loaf of bread and some provisions for our drive.

I also picked up an iced coffee with skim milk.

Adam and I hung out with my family as long as we could (my cousin just got back from study abroad in Costa Rica and had amazing pictures!) but soon it was time to hit the road.

You know we couldn’t leave Baltimore without self-serving one more frozen yogurt.

I got a mix of cookies and cream and taro yogurt topped with strawberries, bananas, Oreo, sprinkles, and rainbow jelly.

The rainbow jelly took my joy over the top, although now I’m going to be missing froyo and bubble tea!

Typically vacation food goes downhill once you get into the car, but today we were ready and we kept things gourmet.  I bought this Tofu Bahn Mi at Atwaters in the morning and it ended up being the perfect brunch.

Bahn Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich made with pickled veggies.  Typically it is very spicy but this one was pretty mild (my only complaint).

Lunch was also a sandwich, but not just any sandwich.

Bee’s Knees Honey Peanut Butter (good), homemade strawberry jam (better), and Dakota bread (best).

Best damn pb & j I’ve ever had!  I’m seriously amazed by how good this bread is each time I eat it.

We were pretty well prepared but sadly I spent the last few hours in the car dying of hunger.  Adam had a huge bag of m&m’s that made the whole car smell like chocolate and it was all I could do not to pour them down my throat.  I managed to wait, but once I picked up our dinner on the way home I could not keep my hand out of the bag of chips.

Many many (way too many) chips were consumed this evening.

We are out of veggies, actually we are out of everything, so I picked up rice bowls from Moe’s for dinner.

My bowl was rice, black beans, tofu, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, sautéed green peppers, lettuce, cheese, corn salsa, and cilantro.

I scarfed that bad boy.

Time to unpack!

Get Your Grillz On

by

After my walk this morning I was ready for a good breakfast.

A 2% Mango Chobani yogurt topped with banana and strawberries,

plus a thin slice of Dakota toasted and drizzled with honey.

Great Harvest bread is sort of indescribably good; I’m not sure what we’ll do when this loaf runs out!

Plans for the day included a trip to the aquarium.

This is my crabby face.

Crabby faces are quickly solved by trips to froyo places.

I self-served cheesecake/chocolate/cookies and cream topped with kiwi, strawberries, coconut, sprinkles, and rainbow jelly (<– like what’s in bubble tea, so fun!).

What in the world are Adam and I going to do when we get back to Buffalo?!

Evening snacks included more guacamole,

and more bread dipped in oil.

I promise that our dinner was lovely and delicious, but unfortunately my pictures are all a little dark.  We made pizzas on the grill!

That was my creation – pesto, buffalo mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, and lump crab meat.  The best combo of the night was my uncle’s – pesto, buffalo mozzarella, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and strawberries!

Here were my pieces; for reference, each piece was slightly smaller than the size of a playing card.

So good.  My cousin also grilled up some peaches,

which were fantastic paired with yesterday’s dessert spread.

We’ve been eating like kings on this vacation.

What’s your favorite thing to cook on the grill?

Tired Travel

by

Hello from Charlottesville!  The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time. 

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later.  By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!!  I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep.  I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon.  Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well.  At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names.  The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious!  I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed.  The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant.  Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout!  This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery.  The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried.  I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive.  I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening.  My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC?  Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!